On International Women’s Day, I highlighted a few of the women who inspire me on Instagram–you can read their interviews for “What’s in Your Closet?” here–but here I wanted to talk a little more seriously about women who have profoundly shaped my life, especially my mother.

I was lucky enough to attend an all-girls school which had the most important impact imaginable on me, especially as a teenager. I can’t emphasize enough the supportive, caring environment I arrived in, and how incredible that was to experience. And I was lucky enough to have an amazing mother.

She was an amazing woman in every way—as a mom, a wife, an entrepreneur, a person. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her mid-twenties and never let it slow her down or get her down, even when she was bedridden. She once wrote, “it was disturbing to be diagnosed when I was twenty-seven years old, but with the help of a priest, I realized that not only do I not have ultimate control of my life, it also made me realize I have so much to be thankful for. I try never to waste a moment or become a “Debbie Downer,” but be grateful to be alive and participate in the areas that I can.” Her words are a good reminder to me that there are so many external forces in the world that affect us, but we can be grateful for what we ultimately have. I was lucky to have had her and I miss her every day.

Today, I’d like to remember and honor the women who inspire me–my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, aunts, great-aunts, teachers, neighbors–the list goes on. Who inspires you?